Thomas B. Hickman is a native of Middleburg, Loudoun county, Virginia. His father, Gary Hickman, was born in Poolsville, Maryland, about thirty miles from Washington, and was a teacher and Presbyterian minister by profession. He won a high reputation in connection with educational work, for which he was eminently fitted by native talent and acquired ability. His own education was completed by a course in Princeton College, New Jersey, and he was a most excellent Greek and Hebrew scholar. He married Miss Eliza Brown, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Lazarus and Mary (Chambers) Brown. Six children were born of their union, namely: Thomas, John McKnight, W. Kerr, Augustus Adams, Henry H. and Charles Edward. Three of the sons were soldiers in the civil war, namely: Thomas, Henry and Charles. The two younger sons were members of the Thirteenth Kansas Infantry, the last named enlisting when a lad of only fourteen years. On leaving the old Dominion the family removed to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1841, and settled in Saline county in 1843, where the father became the president of several female academies and for a number of years figured conspicuously in connection with the educational work in the west. His wife died in middle life in Saline county, Missouri, in 1849, while he was called to his final rest when sixty-seven years of age, in Doniphan county, Kansas.

Mr. Hickman, whose name introduces this review, was educated under the direction of his father, who most carefully superintended the instruction of his children that they might he prepared for the practical and responsible duties of life. He pursued a partial college course in Lexington, Missouri, and extensive reading and observation in later years have added to his broad fund of knowledge. During the civil war, on the 17th of December, 1863, he enlisted as a member of Company C, Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, with which he served until November 23, 1865. He enlisted in the army at Chicago, mustered in at St. Charles, Illinois, under Colonel John L. Beveridge, and his command was engaged in active service, much of the time fighting the bushwhackers of Missouri and Arkansas. He was fifty-seven days in the saddle on the Price raid, the longest raid in the war. Mr. Hickman was made orderly sergeant and continued at the front until the close of hostilities, when he received an honorable discharge and came to Doniphan county, where he has resided ever since.

On the 11th of March, 1866, Mr. Hickman was united in marriage, in Linn county, Kansas, to Miss Linnie Stayton, a native of Jackson county, Missouri, and a daughter of Arthur and Margaret (Foster) Stayton. Her parents had four children, three of whom are now living, as follows: John A., a soldier in the civil war with the Fourteenth Kansas Infantry and now resides in Washington county, this state; Mrs. Hickman; and Samuel H. now at Colorado Springs, Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Hickman have seven children Gary M.; Sarah A., the wife of Grant Forbes, of Hastings. Nebraska; Mabel Clare; Moy B., of St. Joseph, Missouri; Philip S.; Margaret Eliza; and Cyrus Leland.

Mr. Hickman's political views are in accord with the measures advanced in the platform of the Republican party and he has been elected delegate to the state convention, also congressional and county conventions a number of times. He has served as township assessor for five terms, -- a fact which indicates that his duties have been faithfully discharged. He has also served for some time as a justice of the peace with credit to himself and satisfaction to all parties, for his duties are fair and impartial, his service is conscientious and his fidelity to the public trust above question. He belongs to Nathan Price Post, No. 283, G. A. R., of which he has served as the commander and is also a member of the Masonic fraternity, with which he has affiliated since 1863, when he joined the organization in St. Charles, Illinois. His family are members of the Baptist church and take an active interest in its work and upbuilding. He is a Presbyterian in belief. They occupy an enviable position in social circles where true worth and intelligence are necessary to entrance into good society and during their residence in this county they have won the esteem and good will of all.